MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing its most dire political crisis in three decades, one that has the potential to destabilize the entire Balkan region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after a meeting with Republika Srpska (one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entities) President Milorad Dodik.
The top diplomat emphasized that during the talks, the Russian side emphasized the indispensability of the cornerstone principles of the Dayton Agreement. "The post-conflict architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina is based precisely on these provisions, which were adopted by the UN Security Council without preconditions," he emphasized.
"We took note of how the Westerners are increasingly blatantly violating these principles. Their destructive plots are evident, and they don’t even try to hide them. They wish to establish full control over Bosnia and Herzegovina and deprive the Serbs of their rights under the Dayton Agreement. They are trying to turn the country into a unitary state with an obedient government, judiciary, and other authorities. And now what we have is the most acute political crisis the country has seen in years, which could destabilize the entire Balkan region," Lavrov pointed out.
As per the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two primary entities: the Muslim-Croatian Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the territory) and Republika Srpska (49% of the territory), as well as of the Brcko District. Three main peoples — the Bosniaks (Slavs converted to Islam), the Serbs (Orthodox) and the Croatians (Catholics) — are represented proportionally in the government.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is essentially governed through a high representative (a post created by the 1995 Dayton Agreement), who is appointed by the steering committee of the Peace Implementation Council after approval by the UN Security Council. However, in May 2021, the ambassadors of the steering committee countries decided to appoint Christian Schmidt as the new high representative without approval from the UN Security Council. The Republika Srpska leadership, Russia and China does not recognize Schmidt’s legitimacy.